I was like 22 years old before experiencing my first serious snow. I grew up along the Gulf where a 0.01" snow was enough to declare an emergency.
With that first serious experience I discovered that besides the snow, sidewalks and roads froze over and and there was comprehensive misery associated with winter storms.
@swirlie in 1962 or 63, it did dip down to 15F in Baton Rouge, high teens/low-low 20s along the Gulf and everything had to shut down for a week. Water lines and sewage lines froze. For some it was an "Oh my God! Look! I can walk on water!" moment, but they really couldn't, or at least not for very long.